B2B at enterprise — Plus Companies vs AC Companies, what’s actually different?

Both have "Companies" but they solve different procurement realities.

Shopify Plus B2B Companies (released 2023, mature in 2024-25):

• Wholesale-account abstraction — one Company has many buyers
• Tag-based catalog visibility (which products show to which Company)
• Custom price lists per Company
• Draft Orders as quote workflow (single-step approval)
• Net-30 / Net-60 buckets on payment terms
• B2B account hub for self-service reorders

Best for D2C-flavored B2B — wholesale tier where the buyer experience mirrors retail. Strong fit for beauty / apparel / CPG brands selling wholesale to boutiques.

Adobe Commerce B2B Companies (mature since 2018, deepened in 2024):

• Multi-buyer roles per Company (Admin / Buyer / Approver / Junior Buyer)
• Multi-level approval chains (requester → manager → CFO, with $-threshold routing)
• Negotiable Quotes — full RFQ workflow with line-item negotiation, PDF export, version history
• Requisition Lists — recurring orders shared across the Company team
• Customer-segment catalogs — different SKU sets per Company segment
• Per-buyer credit limits + per-buyer payment terms (Net-15 / Net-45 / Net-60 mixed)
• Punchout (OCI / cXML) integration to Coupa / Ariba / SAP SRM

Best for procurement-style B2B — industrial distribution, food-service, MRO, B2B SaaS reseller channels.

Verdict: if your buyer journey involves a quote-to-order cycle longer than 24 hours, multi-buyer roles per company, or punchout integration to procurement systems, AC wins by a wide margin. If your B2B is wholesale-with-self-service, Plus B2B is now genuinely good.